If All Should Fail And Fall
by perkygirly
Summary: Sin is always tempting to commit (okay I suck at summaries)


Disclaimer: Okay, all belong to Tolkien. I am a lowly student and have no money, suing me would be pointless. Thank you for not bothering. Few SPOILERS for ROTK.  
  
Authors Note: Okay, so many fanfics so little time. Well I'll tell you this was a b****r to write, in fact it took me a month to even write the first two paragraphs. No flamers please I worked so hard on this one, I'm not a very romantic person and find those scenes a little difficult so bear with me. Please no "Aragorn won't do that to Arwen!!" e-mails cause they clutter up my inbox and I know that he wouldn't but am a die-hard Aragorn Eowyn fan, there always seemed something wrong about Eowyn just giving up on Aragorn and visa versa *shrugs* oh well.   
  
Dedication: Yeah, people who read my fanfics will know that there is always a dedication. So this is for Sooz who sat with me for hours talking characters.  
  
*********  
  
If All Should Fail And Fall.  
  
Aragorn stood, all below him the people of Minas Tirith buzzed around the streets like bees to a honey pot. Every person surrounding him seemed to be smiling, part of a couple, happiness filled the air. He fled from the balcony trying to seek solitude in the gardens; it was more to his detriment. Eowyn sat on a stone bench watching the sun slowly fall beneath the skyline. A breeze was gently rustled the leaves of the weeping willows commonplace in the garden, thanks to Legolas. The vines Arwen had insisted in having planted climbed the high walls, the branches intertwining in the cracks of the stone.   
  
It pained to watch the scene that was unfolding before his eyes. Eowyn had sat alone a moment ago but Faramir had joined her, just as Aragorn had arrived. Although they were both oblivious to his presence, Aragorn felt out of place standing there, but yet he seemed unable to tear himself away. Faramir took Eowyn's hand in his and they began to talk. Aragorn remembered his last conversation with Eowyn that had taken place only an hour ago. He had no idea how it had built up in him for so long that he never saw it coming.   
  
He remembered the first day well enough to recite their every word in his head:  
  
**********  
  
Aragorn on the balcony watching the people of Minas Tirith going about their daily business, it was one person in particular that captured his attention. A small dark head bobbed amongst the crowds of Gondorians', it was moving slightly faster than any others and walked with an air of nervousness around it. The head stopped for a moment pausing outside a shop looking within at the fabrics in the window, and then went off in the opposite direction in which it had first walked, as if it had remembered that it had forgotten something. He laughed out loud, he found it amusing watching people from above, it was a time-out from all the pressures of running the kingdom.   
  
His advisors had been pressuring him twenty-four seven with matters of the kingdom and this light relief was something he was well in need of.   
  
"Sire, the council is unwilling to sit any longer without your presence. So I bid them leave till they are recalled by your command." Aragorn turned to see his steward standing in the doorway,   
  
"Faramir, how would I survive the pressures of a kingdom without you? And please call me Aragorn, it is after all my given name." Aragorn smiled at his steward who smiled back, he was sure that had he not been gifted Faramir as his steward he soon would have gone mad with the pressure and stress.   
  
"There is though one matter that needs your attention. The welcoming party for your guests." Aragorn sighed,   
  
"I thought I left my wife in charge of that." Faramir took a deep breath,   
  
"It seems your wife is quarrelling with the decorators and the caterers. And sire it would be best if you do not mention the musicians to her, it is not a good subject to start a discussion on." Aragorn groaned he was simply not in the mood to deal with this. Faramir had sensed his kings weariness if burdened with such a problem and had tried to rectify it, but managed only to make it worst.   
  
"Is there nothing you can do about this?"   
  
Faramir shook his head.   
  
"Sire I tried to speak with her, she refuses to listen. I have even sent Eowyn to speak with her but she refuses to take notice of anyone." Aragorn nodded despairingly, although he appreciated his stewards' efforts, they would be in vain if he expected Arwen to take any notice of Eowyn. There was still a sense of hostility between them, it had never totally faded, though he believed it had on Eowyn's part and no matter how he tried to reassure Arwen she never seemed satisfied.   
  
Aragorn followed Faramir into the great hall. Its ceiling and walls were draped with the finest fabric panels, the whole room seemed to belong somewhere else, somewhere unearthly. He glanced over at Arwen who stood surrounded by people crowding round her, she turned to him, a forced smile tightened her face.   
  
"I have just received a letter. Ada is joining Legolas and Gimli, he is bringing Merry along as well." She sighed and turned away, speaking to no one in particular she began to cry that the banners draped across the tables were all wrong. It was now Aragorn's turn to sigh,   
  
"Arwen, I am sure that Elrond has come to see you and not the Great Hall." Arwen paused and nodded as she turned to him.   
  
"You are right, the hall looks fine, that cannot be said for me though. I should go and get ready, a queen must look her best." She smiled at him again it seemed a little less forced this time. She left the room and Aragorn released the tension he had been holding while she was there. Faramir had left moments after Arwen had announced that Elrond and Merry were joining the party as well. Aragorn looked over to the floor length windows, they were letting a gentle breeze into the hall and it comforted him.   
  
Eowyn stood by the windows, the breeze lifting her blonde hair from off her face ruffling her green dress, it whispered to her making her smile. There was some power that the wind carried to make all her troubles melt into nothing. She took a deep breath and turned back to the room, all her problems resurfaced when she looked at the person standing watching her. She glanced around; eyes searching for any ones other than his; Faramir's, anyone's but not his.   
  
"My lady." He greeted her with a small nod of his head.   
  
"My lord" her voice trembled slightly before she managed to get control of herself.   
  
"Shall we walk?" Aragorn held out his arm to her. Torn Eowyn paused for a second before accepting his arm and they began to walk through the hall and out into the gardens. Deep in the midst of the trees they sat on the stone bench side by side a small gap between them.   
  
Aragorn sat next to her; he could feel her energy buzzing around him in the air.   
  
"Eowyn..." He turned to her and they caught each other's eyes.   
  
"ARAGORN!!" Both Aragorn and Eowyn turned to see Arwen standing on the balcony looking round and spotting them sitting on the bench together. She then disappeared and Aragorn knew that she was headed this way.   
  
"We should talk later." With that he stood up and started to walk towards the castle.   
  
Arwen looked out from the balcony. Where was he? He was always wandering off like this and usually it was to the balcony where he could watch over everyone. Not this time, she spotted him sitting in the gardens with... wench!! She had been at Helms Deep and she had seen Aragorn when he saw Eowyn after the battle. She had seen the look in his eyes, she recognised it, she knew he felt something more for Eowyn than he was letting on to anyone, not even himself. Damn, she ran down the stairs as fast as she could manage in her rather elaborate red silk dress. It was laced with gold threads and its ruffled sleeves were embroidered with golden flowers, her hair was pulled back and the delicate golden crown of the queen of Gondor lay upon her head and the Evenstar lay round her neck. She came flying out of the side door into the garden, Aragorn stood waiting for her and Eowyn now sat, alone, on the bench.   
  
"Aragorn, the party is arriving and look at you. You are not even dressed yet." Aragorn nodded,   
  
"I was just leaving to go and change, Faramir can stall the party until I am ready." Arwen nodded, suspicion seeping into her eyes for just a second before she managed to cover it. She moved aside so he could get past and when he left them she glanced back to the bench where Eowyn had sat just moments before. She was gone; unlike most humans she seemed to possess the ability to slip past people unnoticed.  
  
It was not until he and Arwen were welcoming the guests that he saw Eowyn again, she had changed from her day dress and she was dressed more formally. Unlike her usual white dresses, this was a light blue with long fluted sleeves and a silver-decorated sword belt lay upon her slender waist yet there was no sword placed in the sheath. He knew that it would comfort her if there was one placed there, but in Gondor women were not allowed to wear them. Yet he felt a sense of longing when he looked at her, something still remained between them but they had never addressed it. Maybe now was the time that it should be.  
  
Eowyn watched a bored feeling barely restrained by her slightly wavering smile. All round her she saw unfamiliar faces, only few she saw held any regard towards her. Legolas had come over with Gimli to chat for a while but they had not stayed long. Many of the guest held her with the same regard they had the servants. She was beginning to tire of such looks and the lack of warmth in anyone's looks. Her eyes searched the room for Faramir's, not finding them anywhere she searched for Legolas or Gimli perhaps they had seen where he had wandered too. On this search she caught the eyes of another, whose she did not wish to see, Aragorn stood a little apart from Arwen looking as weary as she was feeling. She smiled slightly, a small polite signal so he would know to stop staring, it failed he began to walk over to her.   
  
Aragorn walked over to where Eowyn stood, a small smile faded from Eowyn's face as she saw him approaching, the unspoken attraction between them was not something that she wished to speak of, she was not ready it was too soon. He did not feel the same as she, he wished to confront the matter, remove the not knowing what could have happened. What he could have had if he'd chosen a different path. He smiled as he approached her and she bowed her head for just a second, as was custom in Gondor she did not curtsey she knew how he felt about the silly customs. They then stood in silence for a few moments before Eowyn broke the silence,   
  
"My Lord, I must go and find Faramir. There is an urgent matter that must be addressed with him." Eowyn turned to leave and was surprised when she felt Aragorn's hand on her arm.   
  
"Meet me in the gardens in five minutes, this matter is be far more important than any other." With that he left Eowyn standing in the middle of the room, a shocked look on her face.   
  
Aragorn stood in the garden waiting for Eowyn to meet him, now was the time to address the issue between them and he was about to do so, if only Eowyn would come. He sighed and turned catching a glimpse of blue reflected in the moonlight,   
  
"My Lord, what is so urgent that you must be torn away from your ball?" Eowyn walked over with a puzzled look on her face. Aragorn smiled slightly, he knew she was feigning stupidity to ignore the issue and that amused him somewhat that she could manage to do so and not think that he would not know.   
  
"Eowyn I know you too well to be fooled by such a look. You know as well as I do why we are here. We may continue to ignore the problem but it will eventually become impossible to do so. It should be addressed and dealt with as soon as possible." Eowyn swallowed so deeply she could have sworn Frodo could have heard it over in the Grey Havens, she felt her throat constrict and could only manage to nod. Aragorn took a step closer to her and there were now only a few inches separating them and he could smell Eowyn's clean scent, the temptation to lean down and kiss her was far too overwhelming, and as he hand reached down to stroke the side of her face it was she who lifted her head and captured his lips and they met with a passion of fire so hot it would scorch the very depth of their souls.   
  
**************  
  
They met in same place they always had, this time it was different, things had changed. Aragorn looked over at where she sat, her reflection shimmered in the path of the sun, he knew what he must do and that it was time for it to be done. But he couldn't bear it; he couldn't bear the thought of being without her, to be separated from her astounding beauty, the feel of her hair, the touch of her skin, the sound of her laughter. Everything about her bore down his mind and his heart screamed at him not to part from her, but his head was overruled his heart. It told him it was the right thing to do; with events being such as they were all the kingdom would fall around his feet in pieces.   
  
Eowyn sat on the stone bench. Something around her felt wrong, she felt out of place as if she were a traitor sitting in the garden. Everyone who passed her in the street seemed to be staring at her. Yet no one did, she knew paranoia was setting in on her, she sat as still as stone her hand lay on her stomach, for she had news of such importance that she could not keep it any longer. When she sensed Aragorn approached she turned, a small smile on her delicate face, it faded when she saw the look he bore on his face.   
  
Now she knew something was wrong, she knew the look she saw upon his face, she had seen it when he had left her for the Paths of the Dead. Cold and unyielding she knew he came to tell her that it was over. All through her ran a shiver of pain and distress; she could not bear to be separated from him again, alone in the world.   
  
Aragorn looked at her, her small smile born on her face for only a moment. There were no words between them, they both knew it would have to end and they dreaded the moment it did. Eowyn stood up, a great pain piercing her heart, tears welling in her eyes she turned and began to walk away. Leaving all she truly loved standing in the garden she returned to her chamber and throwing herself on the bed she sobbed. The pain in her heart seemed to grow and expand to every part of her body.   
  
She turned over and curled up into a ball, and she closed her eyes praying for sleep to stop the memories of him flooding her mind. It failed to come and she got up. Wondering round the streets of Minas Tirith she found herself in the gardens of the castle and there upon a stone bench she sat as she had before only now it was not how she truly loved that comforted her but her second and now her only choice.   
  
Aragorn walked back to the castle and then up to his balcony, a place where he found rarely available peace from the pressure of kingly duties. But there he found no comfort just a sense of whirling in a sea of emptiness. He fled to the garden but discovered something that pained him more than what he had just done.   
  
Eowyn and Faramir sat on the stone bench in the garden Faramir's face was blanketed in joy and Eowyn sat smiling. Aragorn looked around for any clue to tell him what was happening and there just between them as they sat on the bench he saw Faramir's hand held on Eowyn's stomach and then he noticed the serene look Eowyn seemed to glow with.  
  
A slow realisation spread over him but then he was struck by something else, Eowyn had become detached from Faramir since they had begun the affair, he knew for a fact as both Eowyn and Faramir had told him so. Aragorn felt pain stab him straight though the heart, he was going to be a father, but he would never be known to his child, slowly a sickening feeling spread and all he could think of was what he lost. 


End file.
